Sonya Lee is a Korean-Canadian filmmaker and National Geographic Explorer dedicated to stories that intersect science, nature, people and culture. She applies impact-strategy and storytelling to engage new audiences in ocean issues.

With her production company, Plankton Productions, Sonya is currently focusing on projects that combine her love of food, her Korean culture and ocean conservation with her National Geographic grant short film and a 3 x 22 documentary series called Our Ocean Table co-produced with Jugaad Sisters for TELUS Originals. Sonya is producing/directing a CBC Short Doc about an endemic lamprey species in an urban creek on Vancouver Island and exploring how to build productions around women, working moms and new parents in science and nature storytelling.

As a freelance producer-director, her work on ocean stories have been for CBC, PBS, ARTE, and Love Nature. Her latest film produced with River Road Films, Jawsome: Canada’s Great White Sharks, aired on CBC’s The Nature of Things in January 2024 and streaming on CBC Gem in Canada. It has been nominated by the Canadian Academy for Best Science and Nature Documentary or Series for the 2025 Canadian Screen Awards. Retitled, Sharks of the North, the film was part of National Geographic Channel's Sharkfest 2025 and is streaming on Disney+ and Hulu in the US & internationally.

With over a decade of experience in science communication, Sonya was previously the Science Producer for the National Film Board of Canada’s Ocean School project, producing over 100 education media pieces including documentaries, VR/AR experiences, and multimedia interactives intended for school audiences.

She is passionate about community-collaborative filmmaking and ethical science communication, leading workshops nationally and internationally. She was a mentor for the 2024 NEWF Congress in South Africa and practices knowledge sharing with the NEWF community. In 2022, she was Media Faculty for OceanX’s Young Explorers Program aboard the Ocean Xplorer.

Sonya is a 2024 National Geographic Explorer, 2023 Documentary Organization of Canada Breakthrough participant, 2021 Jackson Wild Media Lab Fellow, and a 2022 Global Career Accelerator participant with the World Congress of Science and Factual Producers.

She has a background in Marine Biology and International Development Studies and you will find her in the ocean as an avid diver and fish nerd.

Workshops and Panels

2024 | World Congress of Science and Factual Producers | Redefining Co-Production with(in) Africa | Session Co-Producer

2024 | NEWF Fellows Summit and Congress | Mentor

2023 | Jackson Wild Summit | Community Co-Creation Panel | Producer and Moderator

2023 | IMPAC 5 | Ocean Literacy Dialogues Reaching mass Audiences | Panelist

2022 | OceanX | Young Explorers Program | Media Faculty

2021 | Canadian Ocean Literacy Coalition | Ocean Decade Campaign Workshop | Presenter

Fellowships

2023 | Documentary Organization of Canada Northwest - Breakthrough Program

2023 | Story Money Impact - Pod Fellow

2022 | World Congress of Science and Factual Producers- Tier 1 Emerging Producer

2021 | 2021 Jackson Wild Media Lab Fellow

2021 | Reelworld Producer Accelerator Program

Education and Certifications

Marine Biology and International Development Studies from Dalhousie University

Diver Certification Board of Canada- Commercial SCUBA diver

PADI - Divemaster

PFI - Freediver

Sonya is currently living on what is now Vancouver Island in Canada and is a guest on the unceded lək̓ʷəŋən Traditional Territory of the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations.